WASTING SOME MONEY AT THE FLEA MARKET - PART 2: IMMORTALS

A BRIEF RECAP OF MY LAST WASTING MONEY AT THE FLEA MARKET POST - I FOUND SOME BOXES OF OLD HALL OF FAME CARDS, PICKED UP A VINTAGE FLEER CARD, A FEW INSERTS OUT OF FIFTY CENT BOXES AND NABBED A GINTER MINI INSERT OF A FISH. THE STAN MUSIAL INSERTS WERE NOT THE ONLY THING I GOT FROM THE FIFTY CENT HALL OF FAME BOX, I ALSO FOUND THESE:

A BIG HONKIN' PILE OF BASEBALL IMMORTALS CARDS! I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THESE THINGS AS THEY WERE RELEASED RIGHT AS I STARTED COLLECTING AND WERE EVERYWHERE FOR A WHILE BUT THEY WERE ALSO TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME TO PICK UP A SET SO I HAVE TO ADMIRE THEM FROM AFAR. OTHER THAN THE RANDOM ONES I PICKED UP IN CARD COLLECTOR KITS OR RANDOM JUNK BAGS FROM TOYS R US. I FOUND THIRTEEN OF THEM AND NOW YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THEM ALL

AAWWWWW YEAAAAH ERNIE BANKS IN THE CHEAP(ish) BOX AND NOT THE EXPENSIVE BOX. I KNOW THE ENTIRE SET IS HALL OF FAMERS BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF STAR STARS IN THIS PILE AND IT'S NICE TO GET THEM REASONABLY CHEAP. SO APPARENTLY THIS SET IS TECHNICALLY CALLED 1980-1987 SSPC HALL OF FAME. I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN IT AS BASEBALL IMMORTALS, THERE AIN'T NO SSPC ANYWHERE ON THAT CARD

ANOTHER CHEEP BIG SOOPASTAR IN WHITEY FORD. HE'S MAYBE NOT QUITE IN THAT TOP TOP TIER OF HALL OF FAMERS BUT BUT HE'S A YANKEE SO THAT BUMPS UP THE PRICES A SMIDGE. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE BACKS. THE YELLOW IS VERY SOOTHING AND THE BIO WRITEUPS ARE GREAT. THE TRIVIA QUESTION ON THIS CARD MAKE ME THINK THAT THIS RECORD HAD TO HAVE BEEN BROKEN BY NOW WITH ALL THE DINGERS FLYING OUT THE PARKS LATELY. SURPRISIINGLY THE CURRENT RECORD IS HELD BY FELLOW HALL OF FAMER BERT BLYLEVEN WITH 50 IN 1986. PITCHERS ARE GIVING UP MORE HOME RUNS BUT THEY SURE AREN'T THROWING AS MANY INNINGS

OUT OF ALL THE CARDS IN THIS LOT THIS WAS THE ONLY ONE I ALREADY HAD. WELL ALMOST. THERE WERE TWO OTHER CARDS THAT WERE DOUBLES BUT NOT QUITE THE SAME. IF YOU INSIST ON MASTER SETS, THIS ONE IS A NIGHTMARE. EVERY ORIGINAL SERIES BASE CARD HAS THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS: 1ST PRINTING WITH A MLB LOGO NEXT TO THE CARD NUMBER, 1ST PRINTING WITH NO MLB LOGO, AND NO FIRST PRINTING OR MLB LOGO ON THE BACK. THEN THERE'S SOME EXTRA ERROR CARDS FOR SOME PLAYERS AND THE HIGH NUMBERED UPDATE CARDS HAVE THEIR OWN WEIRDNESS. BUT THIS DUKE IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY OTHER DUKE 

THIS IS ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED HIGH NUMBERS AND YES, THERE IS WEIRDNESS. FIRST OF ALL, THIS WAS ANOTHER DOUBLE. I HAD BROCK ALREADY - BUT WITH A YELLOW AND GREEN BORDER. THIS IS HOW I FOUND OUT THERE WERE COLOR VARIATIONS ALONG WITH THE 1ST PRINTING AND LOGO NONSENSE. NOT EVEN COUNTING THE HANDFUL OF ERRORS FROM THE ORIGINAL SET, THAT IS WAY TOO MANY VARIATIONS. LUCKILY, THE ONLY COLOR VARIATIONS ARE IN THE SECOND UPDATE OF HALL OF FAMERS ELECTED IN 1985 AND 1986. IF YOU LOOK AT THE NAME AND DATE TEXT ON THE FRONT YOU'LL NOTICE IT IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN THE TEXT ON THE ORIGINAL SERIES CARDS. DIFFERENT TEXT ON THE UPDATE SERIES CARDS IS GOING TO BE A THEME, SO PREPARE YOURSELF. ALSO WHILE THE REST OF THE SET IS MORE OR LESS ORDERED BY THE YEAR OF INDUCTION TO THE HALL OF FAME, THIS SECOND SERIES HAS THE 1986 INDUCTEES BEFORE THE 1985 INDUCTEES. AND JUST FOR GOOD MEASURE THE YEAR IS WAY OFF CENTER IN THE PENNANT ON THIS CARD. SO MUCH WEIRDNESS

ALSO SOMETHING I JUST NOTICED WHILE TYPING THIS UP - SSPC DITCHED THE TRIVIA QUESTION FOR THE SECOND AND THIRD UPDATES. I WAS WONDERING WHY THE BACKS LOOKED SO BARREN

CY FREAKIN YOUNG. SO HALL OF FAMERY HE'S GOT AN AWARD NAMED AFTER HIM. THIS PHOTO'S GOTTA BE THE ONE USED ON HIS T206 PORTRAIT CARD, RIGHT? IT'S EVEN GOT THE SAME GREEN BACKGROUND

ALL RIGHTY, HERE WE GO. OUR FIRST CARD FROM THE FIRST UPDATE SERIES FEATURING PLAYERS INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME FROM 1981-1984. DO YOU NOTICE A DIFFERENCE? ARE YOUR EYES BLEEDING YET? YEP, THAT'S RIGHT, THEY USED A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FONT FOR THE TEXT ON THE UPDATE CARDS. EXCEPT SERIES TWO, WHICH WENT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL FONT, JUST SMALLER. EVEN THE 1ST PRINTING LINE IS DIFFERENT! IT'S IN UPPER AND LOWERCASE NOW. NEXT TIME YOU SEE A TOPPS REPRINT OR ARCHIVES CARD WITH HORRIBLY BUTCHERED TEXT REMEMBER THE SSPC HALL OF FAME UPDATES AND SHED A SINGLE TEAR 

RAJAH IS THE SECOND BRAVES PLAYER IN THIS LOT ALONG WITH CY YOUNG. THIRD IF YOU COUNT KING KELLY WHO IS THE TRIVIA ANSWER ON CY'S CARD. HE'S ANOTHER INNER CIRCLE HALL OF FAMER KINDA GUY BUT DOES ANYONE REALLY THINK ABOUT HIM ANYMORE? OR MOST OF THE PRE-INTEGRATION GUYS FOR THAT MATTER

300 WINS, TWO WORLD SERIES RINGS, TWO TRIPLE CROWNS, AN MVP AWARD AND PROBABLY WOULDA HAD A FEW CY YOUNGS IF THEY EXISTED WHEN HE PITCHED. DAMN GOOD PITCHER. I WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A SNARKY JOKE ABOUT HOW NOWADAYS HE WOULDN'T GET ELECTED UNTIL LIKE THE 6TH BALLOT BUT I CHECKED THE ACTUAL VOTE TOTALS AND IT DID TAKE HIM FOUR BALLOTS TO GET IN. AND THEN HE GOT SIX MORE VOTES IN 1960 FOR NO APPARENT REASON. IT'S REALLY HARD TO SNARK ON A PROCESS THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO FUCKED UP

THIS IS THE SECOND ONE THAT I KINDA ALREADY HAD BUT ALSO SORTA DIDN'T. NO DIFFERENCE ON THE FRONT THIS TIME BUT MY OTHER STAN MUSIAL HAS A SMALL MLB LOGO TO THE LEFT OF THE CARD NUMBER. THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I HAVE WITH THE MLB LOGO, I HAVE NO IDEA IF THEY ARE SCARCE OR NOT AND I DON'T REALLY EVEN WANT TO KNOW. IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TWO OF THE SAME CARD, YOU CAN DO WORSE THAN STAN THE MAN

ANOTHER 1ST UPDATE DODGER CARD. GREAT CARD BUT THE PLAYER NAME WEIRDS ME OUT

 P E E   W E E   R E E S E

I LIKE THAT THE TRIVIA QUESTIONS FOR THE UPDATE CARDS ARE ABOUT THE PLAYER ON THE CARD. I HAVE NO IDEA IF THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS ARE THE SAME AND AM TOO LAZY TO FIND OUT. CHECK YOURSELF AND LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS*

EARLY WYNN IS GREAT BECAUSE HE'S A HALL OF FAMER BUT EVEN THE GREEDIEST SELLERS KINDA FORGET HE IS ONE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE SO IT'S EASY TO PICK UP HIS CARDS CHEAP. HE'S GOT SOME GOOD LOOKING CARDS TOO, I'M ESPECIALLY FOND OF HIS 1960 TOPPS #1 CARD. LIKE LEFTY, HE WON EXACTLY 300 GAMES IN HIS CAREER. THAT LAST SEASON WITH CLEVELAND WASN'T IN VAIN

"CATFISH" HALL OF FAME CARD FROM THE THIRD AND LAST UPDATE IN 1987. THE FONT CHANGES YET AGAIN, BACK TO THE SERIFS FROM THE FIRST UPDATE, JUST SLIGHTLY SMALLER. IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING THEY STOPPED MAKING UPDATES, IF THEY KEPT ON SWITCHING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN STYLES AND MAKING THE TEXT SLIGHTLY SMALLER EACH TIME IMAGINE HOW TINY THE LETTERS WOULD BE BY THE LATE 90S

IT'S STILL MAKES ME LAUGH THAT BASEBALL OWNERS USED TO HAVE SO MUCH DAMN CONTROL OVER THEIR PLAYERS THEY COULD LITERALLY GO UP TO A PLAYER AND SAY FUCK YOU, YOUR NAME IS "CATFISH" NOW. GOD BLESS MARVIN MILLER

START WITH A CUB, END WITH A CUB. MAYBE THE MOST DISAPPOINTING THING ABOUT THIS SET IS THE FACT IT IS COMPLETE AT 199 CARDS, MEANING THE LAST PAGE IN A BINDER WOULD BE POOR RAY DANDRIDGE ALL BY HIMSELF.  IF I GET TO THE POINT WHERE I HAVE ENOUGH OF THESE CARDS TO PUT IN PAGES I WILL PROBABLY FILL OUT THAT LAST PAGE WITH SOME BIG LEAGUE CHEW HOME RUN LEGENDS CARDS, WHICH HAS AN ALMOST IDENTICAL DESIGN. I HAVE SIX OF THEM INCLUDING A HANK AARON I ACTUALLY PULLED FROM A POUCH MYSELF! IT GOT KINDA MOOSHED INSIDE THE POUCH BUT A FIRST PACK-PULLED HANK CARD IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT. IF I SOMEHOW COMPLETE THAT SET I'LL HAVE TO IMPROVISE. MAYBE SOME ACTUAL 1975 CARDS, PERHAPS?

THIS POST TOOK A WHILE TO FINISH AND IN THE MEANTIME I GOT MY ACT TOGETHER AND ADDED MY NEEDS TO A WANTLIST. PLEASE NOTE I ALREADY HAVE TWO OR THREE PEOPLE OFFERING ME CARDS NOW THAT I AM BACK TO POSTING  AND UNFORTUNATELY I AM BUSY AND LAZY AND IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER DOLDRUMS SO IT MIGHT BE A BIT BEFORE I RESPOND. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

*LOOK AT ME, DRIVING ENGAGEMENT. IT'S LIKE I'M A REAL INTERNET INFLUENCER